Fire-escape



(No Model.) J. HyDOWNING.

. f y A FIRE ESGAPE. No. 290;'067. Patented Dec. 11, 188s.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES H. DOWNING, OF LANE, KANSAS.

vFlRE-EscAPE,

SPECIFICATION forming'- part of Letters Patent No. 290,007, dated December 11, 1883. Application tiled July 18, 1883. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.:

Be it known that I, JAMES H. DOWNING, of Lane, in the county of Franklin and State of Kansas, haveinvented a new and Improved Fire-Escape, of which the following is a full, clear, and eXact description.

rIhis invention relates to that class of nreescapes in which a frame is suspended from a rope or cable passing over a pulley and extending to the ground.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a partof this specification, in which similar 4letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in both the figures.

Figure lis a front View of my improved lire-escape, and Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of the same. Y

A rope, strap, or belt, A, suspended from a frame, B, serves as a seat or to support a seat for the person to be rescued. The frame B is provided with a vertical center piece, G, having a vertical slot, C', in its upper part, at each side of which slot a jaw, D, is formed, in which two cross-rods, E, p are held. A ring, F, is fastened to one end of arope, G, which rope is then passed through an opening in the center piece, G, and is then passed over a pulley,

H, which is adapted to be suspended from hooks, spikes,- or other projections on a building. From the pulley H., the rope G passes under the inner rod. E, over the outer rod E, and through the ring F, and then hangs down, as shown. It' a person wishes to escape from fire, 85o., the pulley H is suspended from a suitable hook. The person sits or stands on the rope or strap A, and descends by his own weight, the\-rope^G being drawn upward. If the speed is to be checked or the descent stopped'altogether, the person pulls downward on the ropeG, thereby causing the same to bind on the cross-rods E. If the person then wishes to continue the descent at any desired moment, all that is necessary is to slacken the rope G-that is, raise it slightly. If theframe B is to be raised after one person has been secured, all that is necessary is tol pull the rope G downward, whereby the frame B will be raised. The nre-escape is very small,

can be folded very conipactly, is light and safe. It can be governed easily', so that it will descend rapidly or slowly, as the person may desire.

In place of the rope G, a wire, a cable, or webbing may be used, and the seat-strap A can be made of leather, webbing, rope, tc.

If the occupant wishes to stop for any length of time lin a descent on the fire-escape, all that is necessary is to take hold of the rope below the ring and in front and raise it and pass it over the top of the frame between the jaws and let it hang loose behind the frame.

I do not abandon or dedicate to the public any pat'entable features set forth herein and not hereinafter claimed, but reserve the right to claim thesame either in a reissue of any patent that may be granted upon this application or in other applications for Letters Patent that I may make.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. The combination, in a nre-escape, with the rope which passes over a superposed pulley, ofthe ring F and friction-rodsE E, whereby the speed may be retarded or the descent stopped,'as described.

2. In a nre-escape, the combination, with the frame B, having a central piece, C, provided with jaws D,vof the cross-rods E, the rope G, passed through an aperture in the center piece, C, the ring F, secured on the end of 8o 

